If you're just starting your newsletter and wondering how people grow one from zero to thousands of subscribers, here's a real look behind the scenes.
This is how I got to 2,500 subscribers on The Introverted Networker over three years.
I didn’t have a team. I didn’t pay for ads. I didn’t go viral.
I just kept showing up.
This isn’t a playbook.
It’s a personal journey.
And maybe there’s something in here you can steal or skip.
Note: Be sure to watch the video for the real juicy details. It’s unedited and me just riffing on this journey. It’s probably too long, so feel free to skip around. I would if it were me watching it.
What I Had Going For Me (and What I Didn’t)
I published my first newsletter in July 2022.
I had already been posting almost daily on LinkedIn for a year, and I had self-published a book called “The Fast And Easy Guide To Networking For Introverts.”
So, I had a lot of the source material for the newsletter.
Also:
I was doing this part-time. I had a full-time job, a family, and very limited hours to give this each week.
I didn’t spend time optimizing lead magnets or running email experiments.
What I did do: write one newsletter a week and promote it consistently.
Even on the weeks I phoned it in, I showed up. That made the biggest difference.
📊 Chart: All-time subscriber growth to 2,500
This chart shows the slow, steady climb.
A few jumps.
A few flat spots.
And one key truth: it added up because I didn’t quit.
All charts are as of May 28, 2025.
What Helped Me Grow
I wrote like I talk. My newsletter is short, direct, and written like a conversation.
I used AI to help, but never to replace me. I spoke my ideas, transcribed them, and used tools to shape a first draft. Then I rewrote it to sound like me.
I kept the bar low. I didn’t need each newsletter to get me more subscribers, I just needed it to deliver value.
I just show up. I may not write a banger every week, but every week the newsletter goes out at 6:00 AM on Saturday morning.
📊 Chart: Jump from 2,400 to 2,500
This recent spike came from:
A couple high-performing posts on LinkedIn
More activity inside Substack Notes
The lesson: when people find your content in other places, and they find it valuable, they subscribe.
You are going to have to promote your newsletter in order to get people to read it.
You don’t have to be a marketing genius, just keep telling people about it wherever you show up online.
Where My Subscribers Come From
LinkedIn has been my best source. I post there daily and mention my newsletter regularly.
Substack discovery helped during active periods, but it’s not where most new readers come from.
Newsletter shoutouts from bigger creators had the biggest single-day spikes. These were creators whose newsletters I was subscribed to already.
How did I get those shoutouts?
I emailed them.
Just replied to their newsletter saying I liked it, added a few thoughts, and shared what I do.
That’s it.
📊 Chart: Key subscriber spikes from creator links, LinkedIn verification, and big posts
This chart shows some of the major jumps:
Getting featured by a well-known newsletter (Fall 2023)
Verifying my LinkedIn account, which boosted my post reach (Summer 2024)
LinkedIn posts that got strong engagement and funneled people to my newsletter (May 2025). Here’s the post that gave me the biggest bump.
Repurposing Works
During the summer of 2023, I hit a growth streak by turning each newsletter into a LinkedIn carousel post.
I repurposed content like this:
Took my previous newsletter issues
Used ChatGPT to turn it into a Twitter thread
Turned each tweet into a slide on Canva
Posted the slides as a carousel on LinkedIn with a link to my newsletter.
It was simple and scalable.
📊 Chart: Summer 2023 spike from LinkedIn carousel posts
This visual shows how powerful repurposing was—especially when LinkedIn prioritized carousels.
Eventually, the algorithm changed. Growth slowed. But that period taught me how far one idea can go.
What To Do During the Slow Times
Flat growth doesn’t mean failure.
Every time my subscriber count leveled off, I did three things:
Kept showing up
Tried a new experiment
Reached out to other creators
Sometimes I didn’t have time to collaborate.
But when I did, it helped.
Swapping mentions or sharing audiences with another newsletter can bring in fresh eyes.
📊 Chart: Subscriber plateaus during slow-growth periods
These plateaus weren’t fun.
But I didn’t give up.
Every single bump in my graph was possible because I kept writing through the flat spots.
Don’t Wait to Start
Here’s something I wish I had done differently:
I imported 150 emails from a free challenge I ran years earlier.
But then I waited a full year before I sent a single newsletter.
I could have started so much sooner.
📊 Chart: Early stage and initial list import
This chart shows how I brought over some early emails (around 150) from a 14-day challenge I'd run before launching my newsletter.
But then (arrow A marks this), I waited nearly a full year before actually starting.
Arrow B shows where I finally sent my first post.
Growth didn’t really start until I committed to a regular cadence.
Final Advice for New Writers
Start now. Don’t wait to have the perfect format.
Stay consistent. Even short newsletters can work. Some of the best ones are just a few sentences.
Repurpose. Your ideas deserve more than one life.
Talk to other writers. That’s how opportunities happen.
If I could grow this list while working full-time and raising a family, you can grow yours too.
It’s not about the size of the list.
It’s about the habit of showing up.
Hope this helps you get there.
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